GRECC Connect Program Site - Salt Lake City, UT
Randall W. Rupper, MD, MPH
Dr. Rupper is the Director, Clinical, GRECC, Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System. He is also, a Professor (Clinical) of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah. His primary research involves evaluating and intervening in clinical systems to improve the health and well-being of rural older adult patients and their caregivers.
Paul Eleazer, MD
Dr. Eleazer is the Associate Director for Clinical Programs, GRECC, Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System and Professor of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine. He has served in a number of leadership positions locally and on the national level. His career research interests have involved exploring ways to improve care of older adults by improving knowledge of geriatric principals employed by physicians and other health care providers.
Darion Bevan, PharmD
Dr. Bevan is a clinical pharmacy specialist currently serving as the GHELP-Transitions of Care clinical pharmacist. He provides transitional care services, including medication management and care coordination services, to Veterans who are transitioning from inpatient services to short-term rehab and then back home. He completed both his general PGY-1 and a mental health focused PGY-2 residency at the Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System. He also serves as a member of the Salt Lake City VA dementia committee.
Kathleen J. Hoenig, MS
Ms. Hoenig has worked with SLC GRECC for nine years. Before becoming coordinator for GRECC Connect, she provided support for several projects, including medication consultation for recent hospital discharged Veteran patients and delivery of geriatric education to primary care providers in rural locals. She also served as a case manager for caregivers of rural Veterans living with dementia.
Point of Contact:
Kathleen J. Hoenig, MS 801-582-1565, ext. 4770, Kathleen.Hoenig@va.gov
The Salt Lake City VA GRECC Connect VIRTUAL Geriatrics leverages Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT) to close the quality gap and health disparities and limitation to health care specialists, and to improve quality of care for older rural Veterans. Consultations emphasize dementia care, polypharmacy, geriatric syndromes and caregiver support. Primarily, consultations are held via VA Video Connect (VVC) with patients in their own homes. When necessary, consults may be conducted with patients at their local CBOCs.
A Mental Health Team with the Montana VA has joined forces with GC to provide consultations to rural Veterans. In FY21 the majority of GC referrals were channeled through the Geriatric Mental Health (MH) interdisciplinary team and a growing number of patient/caregiver referrals are been made to GC from CBOCs across the state. GC also serves the Salt Lake VA Catchment, including the St. George CBOC. During FY21 the GC team added a consultant Neuroradiologist. During FY22 a social worker will join the team and be stationed in Ft. Harrison.
The Salt Lake City VA GRECC Connect VIRTUAL Geriatrics provides:
A Mental Health Team with the Montana VA has joined forces with GC to provide consultations to rural Veterans. In FY21 the majority of GC referrals were channeled through the Geriatric Mental Health (MH) interdisciplinary team and a growing number of patient/caregiver referrals are been made to GC from CBOCs across the state. GC also serves the Salt Lake VA Catchment, including the St. George CBOC. During FY21 the GC team added a consultant Neuroradiologist. During FY22 a social worker will join the team and be stationed in Ft. Harrison.
The Salt Lake City VA GRECC Connect VIRTUAL Geriatrics provides:
- Geriatric consultation and education to patients/caregivers
- Support via comprehensive case review and recommendations to PCPs/treatment team
- VVC/phone consultations - completed in home for Veterans when possible, or via telehealth or phone at a VA facility when necessary, using Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT)
- Consults result in individualized patient recommendations for the treatment team’s consideration
FY21 Geographic Reach
presentations
National Presentations
Pena Heredia CA, Hoenig K, McCormick J, Rupper R, Eleazer P. Implementation
of a new model of telemedicine in Montana: GRECC Connect. Poster Presentation at: American Geriatric Society Annual Meeting; May 2022; Orlando, FL
Regional Presentations
University of Utah School of Medicine: Internal Medicine Grand Rounds 11/12/2020 – “ Statins in Older Adults: The PREVENTABLE (Pragmatic Evaluation of Events and Benefits of Lipid-lowering in Older Adults) Trial.” Mark Supiano, G. Paul Eleazer, Clint Allred.
University of Utah, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Geriatric Grand Rounds 10/13/2020 – “Caring for Older Inpatients during the Covid Pandemic” . G Paul Eleazer.
Implementation of a Polypharmacy Clinic in Vulnerable Elders (PAVE clinic) within Integrated Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) in Primary Care.
Sehgal M, Syed Q, Callahan KE, Powers BB, Eleazer GP, Gleason LL, Ramaswamy R, Sauvigne K, Leipzig RM, Shah A. Introducing Aquifer Geriatrics, the American Geriatrics Society National Online Curriculum. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Apr;67(4):811-817. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15813. Epub 2019 Apr 5. Erratum in: J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Oct;67(10):2216. PMID: 30950511.
Veterans Caregiving for Others: Caregiving as a Factor in the Health of America's Military Veterans.
Manley NA, Hicken BL, Rupper RW.
Mil Med. 2018 Jun 13. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usy131. [Epub ahead of print]
Predicting Psychiatric Hospitalizations among Elderly Veterans with a History of Mental Health Disease.
Burningham Z, Leng J, Peters CB, Huynh T, Halwani A, Rupper R, Hicken B, Sauer BC.
EGEMS (Wash DC). 2018 May 17;6(1):7. doi: 10.5334/egems.207.
The Impact of a Change in the Price of VA Health Care on Utilization of VA and Medicare Services.
Nelson RE, Hicken B, Vanneman M, Liu CF, Rupper R.
Med Care. 2018 Jul;56(7):569-576. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000922.
Historical and Current Advances That Incorporate Competing Risk for Benefit and Mortality in Older Patients With Cancer.
Rupper RW.
Clin Ther. 2018 Apr;40(4):504-511. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2018.03.005. Epub 2018 Mar 27.
“Veterans’ Cognitive Assessment and Management Program” (V-CAMP) which became a primary means of service delivery for rural Veterans with dementia, leveraging Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT)
“Proactive Telehealth Enhanced Collaborative Geriatric Care” (ProTEC) provided proactive dementia care and medication management services through CVT.
“MoCA: A Brief Assessment of Cognition: Educational Resource Video” developed and produced by the Rural Provider and Health Care Staff Training and Education Initiative (RPSTI) Program of the Salt Lake City Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), and the Employee Education System (EES); funded by the Office of Rural Health (ORH.) Video link: https://bcove.video/2i3SrYq This video is listed in TMS for continuing education credits.
“Connecting Older Veterans (Especially Rural) to Community or Veteran Eligible Resources” (COVER to COVER or C2C) program creates a new access point for Veterans seeking VA and community services.
George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
500 Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City Utah 84148 (801)582-1565
Other Locations:
Elko Community Clinic (NV)
Idaho Fall Community Clinic
Ogden Community Clinic
Orem Community Clinic
Pocatello Community Clinic (ID)
Roosevelt Community Clinic
St George Community Clinic
Weber County VA Community Clinic
Western Salt Lake Community Clinic
Last modified: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 5:05 PM